There has to be a sense
of passion about it.
To make an ideal communication,
you know,
you have to get close to the truth,
of anything,
you've got to be able
to address yourself to at least
the Four Spirits,
there has to be something in there
for the heart, there has to be
something there for the intellect,
there has to be something
for sensuality and sensation,
and there has to be some things
that are directed,
like brief and clear.

Whatever it was
that I felt was the weak link
in my previous project,
gave me inspiration
for the next one.

JONI MITCHELL

Indeed,
a significant part of Contemporary Art
is not interesting,
because the obsession with originality
there creates a type of work
that may be original
but is nothing interesting in itself (...)
It is art,
but it is not surprising
and it does not fill you
with admiration or surprise.
I think in some areas,
music in particular,
a return to classicism
seems to be necessary,
in order to stop
this sterile search for originality.

STANLEY KUBRICKInterview by Michel Ciment (1972)

The color should not be different
from a voice that starts whispering,
and finally comes to a scream.
The color must exist for a reason,
not just for showing off.
It must become an actor,
a part of a whole set.
It should work as an actor,
not as a decoration.

A painter is at his best
because of his juvenile quality (…)
The reason painters live,
I think, to be quite old is because
they are children
-that maybe more
than any of the arts,
that never grew up,
they never put their crayons away
and a painting at best
is supposed to rejuvenate a person.
It's the work of a juvenile,
a perennial juvenile
intended to rejuvenate.
You should get a wonderful "ooh",
It makes you want
to get out your crayons
if it is that painting
(this good painting that you see),
more than anything else.

I do not think
that a work of art
ever had other responsibility
Than that of being a work of art.
Clearly, there is
–and there has always been-
a considerable controversy
about what a work of art
really is (...)
According to Johnson,
it should make life
more pleasant or bearable.
I would add another quality,
which is that a work of art
is always exhilarating
and not depressing,
whatever its subject might be.

James Joyce
wrote a wonderful sentence:
"A man's errors are
his portals of discovery"
If you can use these errors,
you'll add a dimension
to what you do.

STANLEY KUBRICKInterview by Michel Ciment (1976)

You know,
you create something
and you have an intention
that goes with it at the time,
but once you've released
it it's really out
to other people's hand,
they interpret it or see it,
you know,
it's like a painting,
I mean I am sure half the time
people look at a painting
and they have no idea
of what the artist originally
was thinking of
and I am not sure it matters,
I think if you can get
something from it,
if it's thought-provoking
if it makes you feel something,
then I think
it's the achievement.

I do not make the architecture that
people expect me to make.
I make the one that I fancy.

OSCAR NIEMEYER

The rule is the worst thing.
You just want to break it.

OSCAR NIEMEYER

I believe
a total unwillingness
to cooperate is what
is necessary
to be an artist
— not for perverse reasons,
but to protect your vision. (...)
The considerations
of a corporation,
especially now,
have nothing to do
with art or music. (…)
Most of the art created
in this particular culture
(of today)
is shallow and shocking (…)
I want nothing to do
with galleries,
even in terms of exhibitions.
When money
meets up with art,
there is a lot of pain,
and it's the pain
of ignorance,
and I don't want
to meet up
with that ignorance
again